Tiger Schmittendorf's Blog – September 2009 Archive (6)

Make It Personal

I recently attended a seminar on preparation for line-of-duty deaths and firefighter funerals. If you’ve ever read one of my blogs on FirefighterNation.com, you know that I have very strong feelings about firefighter deaths.

But, for the first time, the subject really hit home with me. While it’s important to plan that stuff, if we really think about it, doesn’t… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 10, 2009 at 6:00pm — 1 Comment

Summer Acceleration Theory

Calcium Anthropologists Warn of Effects of Summer Acceleration

Unconfirmed fiction by: Tige R. Schmittendorf

Editor's Note: I know it's Labor Day. I should have warned you sooner...

One day while taking a requisite course towards my doctorate in calcium anthropology — the study of milkmen and their connection to mad cow disease — I had cause to stop, doze, and ponder the season ahead.

In the midst of my heavy R.E.M. sleep, I… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 7, 2009 at 11:00pm — No Comments

From the X-Box to the Box Alarm

As I travel around the country talking with other firefighters, a commonly recurring theme of our chat is the future of the volunteer fire service.

The conversation always comes around to the topic of today’s firefighters and the next generation of firefighters. Some “more experienced” firefighters (notice I didn’t use the term older) share that they don’t understand the “kids” coming into the fire service today.

The veterans don’t think today’s recruits share the same… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 6, 2009 at 11:00pm — 9 Comments

Fortune Tellers

In my last blog titled “Dig In.” I talked about the importance of story telling in the fire service and how it serves as a means of sharing experiences, traditions and values from generation to generation. In this article I try to tell a story, and in that story, I hope you can find a lesson to share for generations to come.

Almost every firefighter I meet speaks of how they always knew, from the time… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 6, 2009 at 10:22pm — 6 Comments

What are you going to do about it?

A lot of people look to me for solutions to their recruitment and retention challenges. The fact is, we know what the answers are.

Join me for a conversation about the future of the volunteer fire service as I've signed on with Fire-Rescue Magazine (… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 6, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

Dig In.

Dig in.

“Early on in my fire service career, we responded to a report of a tractor-trailer rolled over on a nearby state highway. We arrived on scene and found a truck lying on its passenger side. The wheels were facing the roadway and the top of the cab was on the shoulder of the road. The truck driver was being treated as walking wounded. It seemed like a relatively benign accident.

As we approached the curb side we realized that this was no ordinary call. It turned out… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 2, 2009 at 6:00pm — 9 Comments